1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to footwear and, more particularly, to a shoe insert that incorporates an indicator of foot posture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Excessive pronation (inward roll) and supination (outward roll) of the foot are commonly known to cause problems such as heel pain, aching legs, knee pain and back pain. This roll action or rotation of the foot is undesirable and is caused by the prolonged improper way of how a person executes each step in the process of walking, running or in any other activity. As a result, the person unknowingly loses having the correct step dynamics and the problem deteriorates over time. When the foot rolls out of alignment from its normal position, a chain of unpleasant events occur. In the case of a pronating foot, the arch is lowered or collapses, causing the plantar fascia ligament which extends from the heel bone to the base of the toes to stretch. The increased strain due to the stretching of the plantar fascia ligament may cause inflammation of the ligament with resulting small tears at the heel attachment point, causing heel pain. In both cases of excessive pronation and supination, the misaligned foot causes the leg to rotate out of alignment. The imbalance on the leg puts uneven forces on the knee joint causing knee pain. Further up the leg, the pelvis is forced out its normal alignment in order to carry and transfer the imbalanced load from the misaligned leg to the back. The misaligned pelvis causes an increase in the curvature of the backbone resulting in poor body posture and therefore back pains. A person may not be aware that his or her feet are rotated out of alignment even while standing at a stationary position.
There are many types of orthotic shoe inserts available in the market today. Some inserts attempt to correct the misalignment of the foot by merely forcing the foot back to its normal position. While other inserts simply provide better support, comfort and control over excessive pronation (inward roll) or supination (outward roll) of the feet.
U.S. Pat No. 4,510,700 to Brown (1985) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,052 to Schoenhaus, et al. (1992) are two examples of such orthotic shoe inserts which basically provide the feet with similar support and roll control. These shoe inserts however are only beneficial when used. In reality, the common person does not wear shoes throughout the day or the night and therefore does not wear shoe inserts throughout the day or the night.
As one who used to suffer from excessive supination of the feet, the inventor searched for a footwear product that could train a user by indicating the posture or orientation of the feet at ground contact while walking, running, standing or while doing any other activity so that the user could correct the posture of the feet by rotating them back to their normal position.
The present shoe inserts suffer from a number of disadvantage:
(a) They do not provide any form of indication to the user with regards to the posture or orientation of the foot at ground contact.
(b) They benefit the user only when used.
(c) The present shoe inserts makes the user highly dependent on them since they do not provided a permanent solution.
(d) The present shoe inserts do not remove the problem of excessive pronation and supination of the foot. They only accommodate the problem by realigning the foot or by giving it better support.
In accordance with the present invention, an orthotic shoe insert is provided that includes a built-in-step indicating device which indicates excessive pronation and supination of the foot. In one embodiment, the indicating device is formed of at least one bead on the bottom surface of the heart.
The features and advantages of the invention includes:
(a) An orthotic shoe insert that will give an indication to the user the posture or orientation of the ground contact while walking, running, standing or while doing any other activity.
(b) A shoe insert that trains the user to self-correct any misalignment due to the rotation of the foot.
(c) An orthotic shoe insert that will enable the user, after a period of time, to be free from having to rely on shoe inserts as soon as the user is naturally able to control foot rotations.
(d) A shoe insert which aims to remove the root cause of the problem of excessive pronation and supination of the foot.
As will be readily appreciated from the foregoing, the orthotic shoe insert of the present invention will help in reducing or removing the problems caused by or related to excessive pronation or supination of the feet.